These couple days off from school are pretty helpful, I guess. The sports festival seemed to have made me more famous than I thought. Just yesterday, a couple kids were so happy cuz they recognized me from TV and asked for me to show them a flame. They were amazed by it and caused a scene that drew in a crowd that soon recognized me as well. A bit uncomfortable, but tolerable. Semester finals are in about a week or so, but I'm more focused on the one word that's been echoing in my head since Mr. Aizawa said it: internships. Who would've thought? I'm only fifteen, and I've probably been scouted due to my results at the sports festival. I just wonder how many I got exactly. I'm also curious how they will work. Is it just being a servant or an unpaid sidekick? I also wonder... will those who didn't make it so far like Sicuto be interning as well, or just hero course students?

A knock on my bedroom door interrupts my meditation thoughts. I open my eyes as my mom walks in. She looks like she's been crying. "Yurei," she starts then pauses for a breath. "Get ready. We're going to the jailhouse."

"What's wrong?"

"It's your father. Someone broke him out."

My eyes widen. Without questioning it, I leap from my bed and throw my jacket on. I slip on my shoes and bolt to the door, leaving her behind.

As I run ahead, a thousand questions are running through my mind. Escape?! Why would he do that? He's a good man! I know he's not guilty, so why?! When did this happen? Was it because of the sports festival by chance? Who broke him out?

After about fifteen minutes of nonstop running, I make it to the prison. The first thing I notice is that there are more guards than usual. I try to just run through the gate without stating my business. I immediately recognize it as a mistake as I'm instantly grabbed by one of the guards.

"Stop, kid!" he orders, wrapping his arms around me and picking me up to swing me back in front of him. "What do you think you're doing? I'm sure you're not supposed to be-!"

"What kind of guard are you?!" I shoot out, my eyes angry and morphed.

The guard looks taken aback and crosses his arms. "Excuse me?"

"If you people are trying to do your job right, then you're terrible at it! If you can let a break-in pass you by, why should you stop me?!"

"Yurei!" my mom yells at me and catches up. She pulls me back hard and places me behind her. She turns to the guard. "I am so sorry. He- he's just worried. I'm Kanji Seshin and this is my son, Yurei."

"Seshin?" the officer parrots. "You wouldn't happen to be related to Jeamoko Seshin, would you?"

"Yes, he's my husband."

"And therefore this squirt's father." He looks at me. "I see." He hangs his head. "You've heard about the break-in?"

"Yes sir. Do you know where he went and who he went with?"

"Mam, we don't know where he went, but we have a great suspicion of who he's with now." He motions for us to follow him. We walk through the prison until going back to the cells. There's not really any sign of debris or anything. As we walk down the hallway of cells, I spy an empty one with my dad's name written next to the door under the cell number. The cramped space is more messy than the others.

We finally make it to an investigation room. The officer pulls out a file and lays it on the desk. "When we checked in Seshin's cell this morning, it was a mess. We hadn't yet touched anything in there but we did check the camera system. Neither the walls or the bars have been damaged in any way, hence this." The guard opens the cream-colored file to show a picture from the camera. A red marker circles a small dark cloud just visible in the corner like it was being sent off from something. "Experts and witnesses are certain that this strange shape and texture is that of a portal similar to the ones the League of Villains used to attack the USJ. Now one would assume that Seshin is in with the league, but watching the footage, we could hear some sort of struggle going on in the cell."

No way. The League of Villains kidnapped Dad? I'm speechless. Why would they want him? Because of his record? I guess that's better than him just leaving with them on account of his own will.

"Now it would seem that this not only happened to Mr. Seshin, but to three other prisoners as well." He flips a page to photos of other thugs and prisoners that have been victims of these shadowy portals. "It would make sense that Mr. Seshin was kidnapped for forced recruitment due to his record of being a retired B-rank villain. However the others, we're not so sure."

He looks up to my mom who's on the verge of crying. "Please," she whimpers. "Just please tell me you'll find him and that he's okay..."

"Don't worry, mam. We already have a team of pros looking for these criminals and their hostages as we speak." The guard then looks at me. "Hang on, you're that ghost kid from the sports festival, correct? That means you go to UA."

"Yes sir." My words just barely budge through from my heavy throat.

"If that's the case, you need to better control yourself. You did incredible in the event, so you can do great things if you stay cool. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

It doesn't take me long before I wipe my own eyes and stare at the tears on my finger. Again, what could the League of Villains want with Dad and these men?? Recruitment? Hostages? Or just the fun of torture?? He's gotta be okay. No one's as tough as Dad, so surely he'll be fine. Still though, I'm scared as squat for him.

—————————————————————————————————————

The break shoots past, bringing us back to school. I'm walking slower than usual. Probably either because of my worry for Dad or that I didn't sleep much. Maybe a combination of the two. It's raining, so it gives me an excuse for wearing my jacket on the way to class.

I hear a splash behind me and turn to see Iida in a green rain coat run by, stomping in a puddle and splashing the water at my leg.

"Watch it, stiff!" I yell in annoyance.

Iida stops and turns to face me. "Oh, good morning, Seshin!" He bows an apology. "I'm sorry, I'm just worried about being late."

"No no, I'm sorry. I'm just.. a little frustrated, that's all. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

He stands straight up again in surprise. He looks down. "I know that feel." After a couple seconds, he turns back to the school. "Walk with me as we go. I'm curious."

"Yeah, sure." I follow along side him down the wet walkway. We walk in silence for a few seconds until our class rep strikes up his conversation.

"That look on your face. You're worried about someone."

"Huh?" I look up at him. "How did you know?"

"Trust me. Waking up and looking in the mirror this morning, I had the exact same expression." He pauses. "My older brother has been gravely injured. He's still at the hospital now. But you know what?" He looks at me with a confident expression. "I plan on facing that with a smile, you see?"

I stare at him back. I look back down at the ground as we walk. "My dad's been kidnapped." Iida gasps. "He was doing time for something he didn't even do when he was broken out by force a couple nights ago. What's worse is that we believe he's been taken by some of the most evil people you and I both know."

"The League of Villains?" His eyes widen.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"What would they want with your father?"

"Who knows?" I shrug. "However, Iida, when you know who hurt your loved one, you can't help but long for revenge. So no, I don't see."

"But, that doesn't make sense. As a hero, wouldn't it be right to be brave and take it as a lesson for your future?"

"What lesson is there to be learned? Be there for whoever ever needs you? What kind of lesson is that?! It's impossible! My dad is missing, and I don't even know if he's okay!" I glare at him again. "Was that the lesson you took in as soon as your brother got hurt?!" I catch myself and draw back. "I'm sorry. He's just... my hero through and through, so thinking of him being kidnapped and possibly injured or worse just feels like I've got no spark of hope anymore. It would make more sense as a hero to make sure it doesn't happen again to him or anyone else in the easiest way possible other than being in everyone's company twenty-four-seven."

Iida is silent. "I... never thought of it that way." We fall into silence once again. Iida finally checks his watch. "I'm.. going to hurry inside. See you in class." With that, he sprints off again. I envy him. At least he knows where his loved one is.

Once inside, I head to home room. Everyone's having a conversation about being recognized from the sports fest. I ignore it all and trudge back to my desk.

"Morning, Yurei!" Tojuta greets.

"Sup." I slump down in my seat and bang my head on my desk in exhaustion.

"Wow. You look like crap."

"Yeah. Didn't sleep much."

Tojuta falls silent for a few seconds. "Is it because of the break-in?" I look up at him. "Uh! Sorry. I'm jumping to conclusions. I heard about it on the news. One of the victims had your last name, so I couldn't help but wonder."

I sigh. "Yeah. My dad was one of them."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Meh, it's not your fault." I turn my head on my desk so that I'm facing the corner.

"How about you, Seshin?" Kirishima calls from the front.

"Hm?" I sit up.

"Did anyone recognize you from the sports festival?"

"Yeah, I guess. There were a few kids who recognized me just for my eyes and caught the attention of other staring strangers. There was also this guard from the prison, but that's about it."

"'A guard at a prison?' Where do you live, again?"

"Yeeeaaah, none of your concern."

The door slides open and Mr. Aizawa steps in. He doesn't have bandages from the USJ attack, so that's good. "Morning."

"Good morning, Mr. Aizawa," the whole class responds.

"Mr. Aizawa, you don't have bandages anymore," Asui points out. "That's good news."

"The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment." He motions under his eyes to show off a scar under his right. "Anyway, we have a big class today on Hero Informatics."

Well squat. Having been worried about Dad and everything else in between, I never studied. Dang it! I even reminded myself to with semester finals coming up! Just please don't be a pop quiz...

Mr. Aizawa keeps us in suspense for what feels like a whole minute. "You need code names," he finally informs. "Time to pick your hero identities."

Yes! Nice!

Most of the class springs out of their seats in excitement until shooting back down as soon as Mr. Aizawa's eyes flash and his hair jolts up as if he's using his quirk.

"This is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned the last time we were in class together," he continues. "Normally, the students don't have to worry about the draft yet, not until their second or third year actually, but your class is different. In fact, by extending offers to first-years like you, pros are essentially investing in your potential. Any offers can be rescinded if their interests in you dies down before graduation though."

Hagakure speaks up. "So what you're saying is, we'll still have to prove ourselves after we've gotten recruited."

"Correct. Now," Mr. Aizawa holds up a controller and points it at the chalk board. "here are the totals for those of you who got offers."

Ten students' names appear holographically on the board as bars extend from them, illustrating all the offers each of the listed students received. I scan for my name and find it with fourteen offers. Interesting. Bakugo and Todoroki's offers are off the charts compared to ours.

"In past years, it's been more spread out. But there's a pretty big gap this time." Yeah, no kidding!

"Gah!" Kaminari groans. His name wasn't on the board along with some other students'. "That's no fair."

The rest of the class comments about the results, about who received how many and how they received none.

Tojuta looks at me and gives a thumbs-up. "Nice, Yurei! Looks at all those."

"You gotta stop praising me, man. As flattered as I am that you're doing so, you still helped me and my team in the cavalry battle. Take some credit."

"Well it's hard to do that when I don't see my name up on the board."

"Despite these results, you'll all be interning with pros. Got it?" Mr. Aizawa clarifies. "Even those of you who didn't get any offers."

"Oh, so we're all interning?" Midoriya asks.

"Yes. You already got to experience combat with real villains during the attack on the USJ facility. But it'll still be helpful to see pros at work. Up close and personal. In the field. Firsthand."

"And for that we need hero names!" Sato excitedly explains for our teacher.

"Things are suddenly getting a whole lot more fun!" Uraraka cheers.

"These hero names will likely be temporary, but take them seriously, or-."

"You'll have the demons to pay later!" a voice calls from the sliding door. Midnight struts in with her hands behind her head.

"So I can blame Seshin if I choose a bad name?" Samae snidely asks.

"Shut your face," I say to him without turning. Honestly, first I'm a ghost, then I'm a zombie, now I'm a demon. What am I?!

Midnight takes the podium with Mr. Aizawa and ignores Samae. "What you pick today could be your code name for life. You'd better be careful or you'll be stuck with something utterly indecent."

"Yeah. She's got a good point," Mr. Aizawa tiredly agrees. "Midnight is going to have final approval over your names. It's not my forte."

I reflect on his hero name: Eraser Head. Sure it makes sense since he can erase quirks for a brief bit, but it doesn't sound well thought-through.

"The name you give yourself is important. It helps reinforce your image and shows what kind of hero you wanna be in the future. A code name tells people exactly what you represent. Take 'All Might' for example." With his example given, Mr. Aizawa takes up his sleeping bag and walks to the corner.

Makes sense. His name reflects power, which is basically what the guy is. I accept the whiteboard and marker being passed to me.

Now, a code name... I bounce the marker off my finger as I think. There's really one 'code name' I've gone by and liked. Spook is something I'm used to from my dad, but it just doesn't fit. The name feels like a wolf pup baring its baby fangs to threaten someone only to be provoking that someone to want to pet it. Even so, that someone will likely get bitten. While the aftermath is viscous, the name isn't very intimidating. Well, I'm a ghost, but I don't wanna leave it at just that. Demon? Nah, too much. The Haunter? No wait. That's a Pokémon. C'mon, something original but not too dark. Maybe...

"Alright, students," Midnight calls for our attention. "Who among you is ready to share?"

"Wait!" Tojuta whispers to me. "We're presenting these?"

"Uh, duh. Would seem kinda pointless to have a preferred code name that no one would hear or use."

He sighs. "True."

A pattern commences from my classmates. They would walk to the front to present theirs, Midnight gives a comment of acceptance or denial, then they sit back down.

"The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy."

"That's delightful! It makes you sound approachable!"

"The Hearing Hero. I'm Earphone Jack."

"Now that's a good one!"

"The Taping Hero: Cellophane."

"That's on the nose. Good work!"

"Stun Gun Hero. I am Chargebolt! Electric, don't ya think?"

"It makes me all tingly!"

"The Stealth Hero: Invisible Girl!"

"That really suits you!"

I watch as each of my classmates go up and introduce their new identities. Soon Samae puts down his marker and walks up to the front. He holds his board so everyone can see. "The Unforeseen: Call me Nightcrawler!"

"Excellent! It describes your quirk well!"

I smile as I remember where he got that. Yeah, you're welcome, Samae.

Auxi skips up front right after. She sets her board on the podium, too. "The First Aid Hero. I am the Green Cross!"

"Oh, I see!" Midnight gives a thumbs-up. "It's like the Red Cross, but color-corresponds with your costume. Very nice!" Auxi gives a quick dab in celebration.

As she comes back, Tojuta taps a quill on his desk to get my attention. "What do you think?" He tries to show me his board, but I turn away.

"Don't ask for my opinion. Ask Midnight."

"But then I would have to show everyone else."

"Well?"

Tojuta sighs and nervously walks up to the front. He flips his board to show his choice. "Um.. I'm the Needle Hero, Hystrix. I-it's not much, but I wanted something that makes me sound friendly but tough as well."

"That's perfect! It's a species of porcupine and sounds like the perfect combination of your preferred descriptions!"

I clap with the rest of the class then look back down at my board. I think I got it. Something intimidating and matches what I am. I scribble down my name and add the description above. I then put down my marker and raise my hand.

"Seshin. You ready to share?"

"Yes mam." I stand and walk to the front. I set up the board for everyone to see. "The Hero From Beyond. I am Phantom."

"So spooky. I love it!"

After I sit back down, the names continue. A few of my classmates are just going by their real names. Midoriya chooses Deku for some reason, which is odd, because I remember that being the Zelda name Bakugo calls him to tease. Oh well, his choice.

At last, the bell rings. Mr. Aizawa awakens and takes the podium once again. "Now that everyone's decided on their hero names, we can go back to talking about your upcoming internships. They'll last for one week. As for who you'll be working with, those of you who were on the board will choose from among your offers. Everyone else will have a different list." He holds up a paper to show us. "You have a lot to think about. There are around forty agencies across the country who've agreed to take on interns for your class. Each agency has a different specialty that its heroes focus on. Keep that in mind."

"Imagine that you were Thirteen," Midnight inserts. "You'd want to choose a place that focuses on rescuing people, not fighting. Understand?"

"Think carefully before you decide."

"Yes sir!" Everyone nods and accepts their lists of different agencies. I grab mine and quickly skim them over.

"Turn in your choices before the weekend." Mr. Aizawa and Midnight head to the door and step out.

"We've only got two days?!" Sero calls before they leave.

"Yeah, so you should start now. You're dismissed." Our teacher closes the door behind him.

Once they're gone, I return my attention to my paper. Quite a few choices.

"So what're you gonna do?" Tojuta looks at me. "What are you looking for in an agency?"

"I dunno. I guess I'm looking for somewhere where I fight a lot. Though what I really wanna focus on here is multitasking. I can probably learn to use three minions at once." I look up from my paper and at him. "What about you?"

"I'm not sure myself. I got three choices, but I wanna pick an agency that trains in melee combat. Cuz ya see," he plucks a quill from his head. "I'm excellent at aiming these, but I wanna have a way of fighting closer than what I'm used to."

I scan over his paper. Among the three, one catches my eye. "What about this one?" I point to the row.

"'Top Shot Agency?'" Tojuta reads then looks at me. "I mean it would make sense, but I just said I wanna work on close combat, not ranged."

"As I recall, Mr. Snipe is the lead there. At least you got a familiar face."

"True. I'll think about it."

I look at my paper once again. "I just don't know. I'm hardly familiar with any of these pros, so that doesn't help."

In the middle of our conversation, Auxi yells across the room to herself, "Recovery Girl, baby! Oh yeah!!"

I ignore her and look back at Tojuta, who continues his advice. "Well, luckily, we got a classmate who knows possibly every pro in the country." Tojuta looks at Midoriya, who's just staring at his desk.

Well, I don't have anything against the idea. I've asked for his opinion on stuff before, so it shouldn't be too awkward. I nod to my friend and walk to the boy three seats ahead of me. I make it to his side and open my mouth to say something, only to properly hear him whispering his thoughts to himself. Right, he's in another muttering session.

I look back at Tojuta with a confused expression. He just shrugs. I sigh and hesitate. I hate to interrupt him, but he's got no offers, so he probably isn't as busy as me. I finally put a hand on his shoulder.

"'Scuse me."

"Uh! Oh! Seshin!" He jumps from his preoccupied state. "I'm sorry; am I bothering you?"

"I really don't care, man. I'd just like some information about some pros. I was told you got answers, so here I am."

Midoriya's face beams with shocked delight before he reaches for his backpack. "Yeah, of course!" He sets his bag on his desk. "What hero are you looking at exactly? A fighting one? A rescue? Maybe a support?"

"I'm looking for a pro among my list who's got brains as well as brawn. A clever fighter, I guess you could say."

"A clever fighter. Can I see your list?"

"Yeah, sure." I hand him my paper as he looks over my choices. He mutters as he reads.

"Oh! Here's a good one! Nighteye Agency! That's a pro who can see into someone's future and applies it to his side kicks' ways of fighting."

"A fortune teller?"

"Uh.. well.. yeah, sorta. But I guess he has more brain than brawn."

"Hmmm.... Who else is there?"

"Let's see... Oh! Here's Gang Orca's agency. Maybe you'd find interest there. He's the top third hero who uses a villain-suited quirk for good! He's a tough fighter, so there's your brawn."

"Hm. Getting there. Anyone else?"

"Well, um..." He looks back over the list. "Oh. Well, this one is a balance of the two characteristics you're hoping for." He shows me the name. "The Ship-Shape Agency. Run by the pro hero, Captain Shipwreck."

"Never heard of him."

"Oh! You wanna know more?"

"Yeah sure, why not?"

"Okay!" Midoriya fishes through his backpack until pulling out a notebook with the number ten on it. Good grief! He's like a walking archive of super heroes! I wouldn't be surprised if he's got more. "Alright, here!" Midoriya excitedly points to a profile of a pirate-looking person. "Captain Shipwreck has a quirk called Seaworthy. His entire body is equipped with any gear you can find on a pirate ship, including his signature anchor. His agency is somewhere off the coast of Japan, though he rarely goes out to sea. With so much gear on him, he's very smart with it all and always chooses the correct tool for the job! That's what I count for intelligence."

"Interesting. That's some quirk." I take his book from his desk and look it over.

"I know! Legend has it that he got his quirk by accident when he was on a daring quest! Coming from America, his ship was unexpectedly caught in a storm and crashed where his agency is now! The story says parts of the ship fused with the quirkless captain, allowing him to summon the tools whenever he wanted! The rest of the ship's remains, he used to construct his agency!" I look from the book at him. "Uh! Sorry, I should stop geeking out."

"You're fine, man." I toss the book back at him, which he shakily catches. I take my paper back and stare at the row with the pirate-themed agency. "Thanks." I turn back to my desk.

"Wait." He stops me, and I turn back. "I.. uh... I heard about a break-in at the city's jailhouse." Oh. This. "Um.. it might be a coincidence, but one of the people who was broken out had your last name. Jeamoko Seshin. You.. wouldn't happen to be related, would ya?"

I pause and sigh. Midoriya and I aren't really close, but that doesn't mean I should hide anything so obvious. I look back down at my feet. "You're correct. Jeamoko is my dad. Why he was in jail to begin with, it's stupid. He was falsely accused of a crime and has been doing time even years before I came to UA. I still love and care for him. He's my hero as All Might is yours."

I can hear Midoriya's choked up gasp before he mumbles again. "I'm sorry."

"Forget about it," I reply after a few seconds. I walk back to my desk. "Thanks for your opinion. Have a good one."

"Yeah, you too."

Sitting back down on my desk, I linger on the idea how a few people have caught on. I wonder how the rumors about my dad will affect their opinions about me. Tojuta, I trust, but I'm a bit concerned when people like Iida and Midoriya have figured it out.

I finally shake my head. Snap out of it Yurei. Don't rest on these selfish thoughts. So what my dad's been misjudged? That shouldn't have any impact on how I feel for him. It's definitely not embarrassing. After all, I'm here to show the good that can come from his quirk. Right now, just focus on this.

I look back down at my list. I've made my decision. I take my pencil and circle 'The Ship-Shape Agency' option.